The Game Changes
by cgaussie01
Summary: Character death. Pt 4: Minion happens upon something that might make his descent into evil either easier, or harder. Meanwhile Roxanne continues her investigation into what made Megamind tick.
1. Death of an Alien

The dust in the air made it all but impossible for him to see an inch in front of his nose. That is, if he had one to begin with. The little fish coughed, tasting the dust on his lungs despite the debris being safely situated outside of his bowl but thanks to that little antennae in his brain, he could smell things around him. It came in handy if there were fires, or if he was baking. In this situation, however, being able to sense those particles in the air around him only lead to coughing and watery eyes for the poor fish.

Things hadn't gone according to plan at all, no matter how well thought out the plan seemed.

Megamind had devised another brilliant plan involving explosives, fake puppies, and lasers. It had all seemed perfectly doable on paper but when they had captured Roxanne Ritchi for the five thousandth time (resulting in some fan fair and evil confetti) Metro Man had busted in on them. He and Megamind entered their usual brand of banter before push came to shove. Minion avoided the physical confrontations just as he had been doing for years, but hissed when he saw Metro Man an incredibly painful looking punch on his friend.

He remembered Megamind pulling out one of his many weapons and of course Metro Man had heroically gotten in-between the blast and Roxanne Ritchi who was tied to a chair with a bomb attached to her head. Funny how he did that, despite the fact that Megamind hadn't been firing at the woman. Yet still it had deflected off a powerful arm, ricocheted off of the man of strength's chest and hit something else entirely.

Then there had been the explosion, but not only one. They were numerous, sending plumes of smoke up towards the skies as fires licked at the electrical circuits that had birthed them. The stench of melted, burning plastic infiltrated Minion's glass home, and it made him feel sick.

"Sir? Sir where are you?" Minion called, managing to push what used to be a large control panel off of his body. It fell to the ground with a noisy 'clang!' which kicked up even more dust. The fish squinted his eyes, trying to see through the thick dust that still hung in the air. Whatever it was that Metro Man had deflected the De-stroy gun setting at had really gone off like a... well. Bomb. Maybe it had been one of the many bombs that littered the lair? Minion fretted about what kind of clean up job he would have to undertake to clear all this up.

Minion waved his hands in front of him, trying to make the smoke go away. It hardly worked, it was like trying to control the ocean and it continued to do as it pleased no matter how annoyed the fish could get. Coughing again, the fish walked around what had once been one of the walls of the base and he wondered just how he had survived. Surely the fish must have just been in the right place, at the right time. But it was when he happened upon some crushed Brain Bots did Minion's panic begin to finally grip him.

"SIR?" he called louder. "SIR? PLEASE. SIR, SIR WHERE ARE YOU I CAN'T SEE YOU." the fish called louder still, waiting to hear his friend answer back through the rubble and the smoke but there came no answer.

At least, not his own…

He heard Roxanne's gasp from across the room and the fish turned in his bowl first before his robot body turned to follow suite. Minion made his way over destroyed robots, crumbled walls and Brain Bots towards here he heard the sound. The smoke and dust was thicker around here, and he was vaguely aware of a fire burning in the corner but it wasn't his main concern. As he got closer he saw the woman standing there, hair an exciting mess, but with her back to him. The way she was holding herself she was perfectly fine, probably saved by Metro Man as usual, but her hands were covering her mouth.

"Miss. Ritchi?" the fish asked quietly, "Are you... are you all right?" he asked.

She couldn't answer him. Minion looked past her and he saw Metro Man kneeling amongst the rubble and for a fleeting second Minion thought maybe he was finally hurt. That his master had finally found a weakness in all this destruction and was about to land another blow against the hero but then Minion saw the black and blue material that was on the ground before Metro Man.

The hero, hearing the fish's words, lifted his head and stared at him with wide, horror stricken eyes. Minion was confused at first but then he realized just what was going on. On the floor in front of Metro Man, was Megamind.

A broken, bloodied... and dead Megamind.

He had to be dead. Minion prayed he was dead because his face was a bloodied, horrible mess that made it all impossible to tell it was him in the first place. Part of his head had been caved in, crushed by falling debris. His back was twisted in a horribly painful looking position, and bones stuck out through the spandex he had always felt so comfortable in. One of his boots were missing.

Minion stared, numb, deaf, and blind to everything else around him.

"I... I tried to..." Metro Man's voice was shaking, devoid of the usual pompous way of speaking he had when he was in control of a situation. He sounded shattered, broken, different.

"No." Minion said straight away as he pushed past Roxanne, uncaring he had almost pushed her over in his rushing forward. He fell to his knees of the suit that Megamind had built for him before the broken alien, heart beat racing within his body. "No. No. No, no, no, no, _no, no!_" his voice grew louder and filled with panic with every word leaving his mouth. What could he do? What could he do? His friend, his boss, his reason for living was laying there no longer moving and what could he _do_? "Sir, Sir come on. Sir, please. We, we have to, to get away." he was whimpering now, hands shaking as he reached out to Megamind but was afraid of where to touch him. Every part of him looked broken, despite his brilliant green eyes being open but lost amongst a sea of blood and dust. The sparkle in his eyes was long gone. They were only green now, green and lifeless.

"Minion," Roxanne's voice was shaking from her tears sliding down her face. "Minion he's gone, he's-"

"_NO!_" Minion screamed, turning in his tank to glare at the woman with angry, hate filled eyes. "He is NOT gone he is HERE!" he snarled, his sharp teeth gnashing in such a way that if he didn't have the glass between him, he very well may have tried to bite the woman.

"He's dead, Minion." Metro Man's voice was back, and the fish spun to glare at him now. "His... his lust for evil finally bested-"

"_Murderer._" Minion suddenly hissed, that cut the hero off and he honestly looked wounded and shocked by the word. "It's your fault. It's _all your __**fault**__._" the fish continued venomously. "If it weren't for you, turning people against us, singling Sir out all those years, taking everything good we ever could have had in our lives and keeping it to yourselves he would never have DONE this!" the fish continued, his metallic hands shaking so badly. He had barely noticed he was missing most of his digits due to the explosion, or that a lot of the fur on his body was caked with dust and grime. "You've been hauling Sir to that stupid naughty corner all our lives and now he's _gone!_ He's _gone_…" Minion repeated the two painful words as if he had barely noticed he had spoken them.

He looked down at his friend, his master, and a great sob escaped him. "He's gone." Minion shuddered, his fins drooping in the water. "He's gone and nobody will care. Nobody will miss him. This whole city will celebrate. You'll be the hero all over again. Miss. Ritchi will be interviewed for being a witness to the final defeat of Megamind and there will be celebrations and parties… Nobody will mourn him but me."

"We _will_ mourn Megamind, Minion, we-" Roxanne was talking, and he was vaguely aware she had drawn closer to him.

"You insult his memory by speaking his name!" Minion spat suddenly, his mood swinging violently as he turned around and looked at her, "You don't even know his _real_ name! You never cared to even ask him _that much_! You never cared to wonder why it was always you he kidnapped and nobody else! You never saw how much he loved you, how much he had always loved and adored you! All you saw was an inconvenience to your life and a stupid little man who kept bothering you!" Minion was on his feet again, pointing one of his hands at the woman accusingly, eyes daggers and voice venom. "Don't you _dare_ speak his name in my presence!"

"Hey, hey!" Metro Man was intervening, his strong hand grasping the fishes shoulder and easily pulling him away from the woman whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and face as white as shock from the shock. "Don't you talk to her like that or-"

"Or you'll kill me too?" Minion spat.

"I didn't kill him!" Metro Man shot back, voice cracking.

"Do you want to kill me?" the fish demanded. "Do you want to complete the set? Finally be rid of both of us so you can have your happy ever after? You got your happy ever after the second you landed on this god forsaken rock and what did we get? WE got nothing! We only had each other that's all we've ever HAD and now he's dead! He's gone where I can't follow him anymore!" Minion's voice was shaking, as was his small body from the fury and pain that was being let out all at once so violently he was scaring even himself. "Congratulations, Metro Man! Megamind is dead! You defeated the evil force that never put people's lives at risk! He never killed or hurt anyone in all his years of fighting you! You killed the alien you bullied in school from day one! I hope you're proud of yourself, I hope you're happy! Because I am NOT!"

It was apparent Metro Man and Roxanne were struck for words, and that made the fish feel proud, if shattered at the same time. Metro Man, who always had a witty banter to throw back at his boss, was speechless, and Roxanne Ritchi, the snappy reporter was silent from shock. He snarled at the two of them before turning away, and very carefully lifted the broken blue body into his strong, capable arms. Megamind had always been so skinny and slender, light to lift but here it felt so very different. His head lolled from side to side in the fishes embrace until it came to a rest between the crook of his arm and his chest and Minion saw just how badly the aliens head had been crushed. His skull had all but shattered, piercing his impressive brain, leaving a gaping wound that would cause anyone to feel sick over.

All Minion saw was the greatest loss he could ever face, as well as the loneliness that now presented itself to him in the form of his broken, dead friend.

"What... what are you... you going to do...?" Roxanne asked quietly, afraid to speak but she had to ask. She just had to.

"Do you care?" Minion asked.

"Of course I... I care..." she replied shakily, taking a step back as the fish turned in his tank to look at her with a dull expression on his face. "Minion, I do."

"What I'm going to do is my business and if either of you have one piece of shredded decency in your bodies left, you will leave me to do it and not ask me anything." Minion said angrily, before turning his gaze to Metro Man. "And this isn't over."

"What?" Metro Man asked quietly.

"This isn't over. I'm going to finish what Sir began but the rules have changed. The real game begins today, Metro Man. You have two options. One; let me go and let me give my only family the rightful burial he deserves. Two; kill me and deliver both of our corpses to the government for full alien autopsies. Be hailed the hero. But know in your heart what really happened. Which one can you live with?"

Metro Man stood there, and judging by the look on his expression he was obviously weighing which option he could go for. Roxanne reaches out slowly, and touches his arm. This causes him to almost jump, and he looks down at her, before looking to Minion. His answer is a simple step backwards, away from him, and a solemn nod.

"The one good thing you've ever done in your life will be the last." Minion whispered. "That's a promise."

And he was gone. Minion carried the alien out of the destroyed buildings, and the Brain Bots that were still functioning soon clustered around him with their glowing orbs seemingly setting themselves as a lower brightness than normal. They then began to lift, carrying the two aliens, one alive and one dead, away into the night until they were nothing but a distant star on the twilight sky that now bathed the city.

Roxanne could do nothing but cry.

**The End**


	2. Sleep Pretty Darling

Roxanne felt completely numb after Metro Man had returned her to the sanctuary that was her loft apartment. The man of strength, power and speed had taken his time carrying her above the city and the two of them had remained quiet throughout the entire flight. This was no great surprise, what they had just witnessed would surely leave neither of them for the rest of their lives.

He finally landed on the balcony and set her down, and she thanked him in a soft mumble as her feet finally touched the ground. Lifting a hand she busied with her hair, something normal, before giving out a choked sound and shook her head. "I just-just can't believe it." she finally admitted, the first words she had spoken since being spoken down to by the fish who had been cradling his dead companion. "This is happening, isn't it?" she asked, lifting her gaze to the man in gold and white. "I'm not having some, some lurid dream? When I wake up, I... I'll probably be kidnapped all over again and he'll be there with his spikes and, and his… his lasers..."

Metro Man pursed his lips together and looked very uncomfortable, since he wasn't sure what to feel at this moment. Megamind was dead, that should be reason for celebration for _anyone_but did anyone ever understand the mutual respect and understanding that he and Megamind shared? There was an unspoken connection that ran deeper than him being the good guy, and Megamind the villain. Both of them had been babies once, sent away from their native homes in hopes of finding a new one to live out their lives in peace. Megamind and Metro Man had been 'rivals' since forever ago, but now that he was gone... it felt as though he had just lost his best friend.

"It's not, Roxy." he said solemnly. "It's happening."

"No," Roxanne whispered, pressing her nails to her lips and shutting her eyes. "No, no... h-he was always just, just a problem! A nuisance! How many of my dates had he ruined? How many of my dresses have been ripped on his devices of death? W-why did..." she choked again, shaking her head and grabbed at her hair in an effort to stop the shaking. "Minion said he loved me."

"He did..." Metro Man said carefully.

"Was that true?" she asked quietly.

"I don't... I don't know, Roxy." he answered. "You got to admit this city is... uh... was ripe for young women of power to kidnap but he always chose you. There was never anybody else. Did he ever... ever give any indication he felt something towards you?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Roxanne answered exasperatedly. "He, he'd just flaunt around as if he was the greatest guy in the world even if he lost to you every single time! I used to, to bring him down and insult everything about him yet he kept trying to get the upper hand no matter what, to, to intimidate me and..." Roxanne felt as though she had suddenly been struck over the head with a baseball bat. How could she have not seen it? The blue alien's eyes had always been readable, yet how could she have not noticed the look of a man who was trying to impress the girl he liked? Had all those spikes, lasers, and death machines been an attempt to finally have her sit up and admit to how impressive he was? It wasn't just a grab for an ego stroke at all... he had _loved_her.

"Roxy?" Metro Man asked, since the woman suddenly went white as a ghost.

"All those years." she whispered quietly, hands clasped over her heart that felt like it was going to shatter into a million pieces and pierce her flesh. "I never... I never saw it. How couldn't I see it? Why didn't I see it?" she asked desperately.

"Roxanne it's not your fault." he reached out and grasped her shoulder, "Don't blame yourself for what happened, you know it isn't right to do that."

"It _is_my fault!" Roxanne answered, voice quaking. "If, if I had noticed anything worth noticing he wouldn't have, have continued trying to fight you, he could have stopped and we could have..."

"Did you feel anything for him in return?"

She stopped at the question, an uneasy look on her face. Megamind had been a constant thorn in her side since the first time he had kidnapped her. The blue alien would send his Hench fish out to capture her, and how many times had she woken up with a smelly bag over her head? Megamind had entered her life like a grand performer waiting for applause but she had never given it to him. To be honest, once, the idea of him not kidnapping her made her feel uncertain of herself. He had become such a constant in her life, even if a constant annoyance, she didn't know how to feel now that she knew he would never appear before her in a swiveling chair or surrounded by black smoke.

Her heart was hurting like it had when previous boyfriends' had broken it off with her, and yet it was ten times different at the same time. She felt guilty for not feeling the same for him, for not having the answer 'yes' straight away to the question posed to her, and it made her feel sick.

Roxanne burst into tears, and covered her eyes as her grime covered face became streaked with tears. Seconds later Metro Man's arms were around her, pulling her to him for a comforting embrace. She let out a terrible, mournful wail as she dug her nails into his chest and racked from the uncontrollable sobs escaping her. The last time she had ever cried like this had been when she had learned about her father's death years ago. She had cried until she had thrown up, and she knew the same was happening all over again but she knew better than to fight the tears and the sadness. It was all a part of grieving, wasn't it?

At least, she hoped it was.

* * *

><p>The body lay sprawled on the floor, neck twisted in a horribly painful position, and the Brain Bots hung around it like a bunch of curious toddlers. One of them lifted its eye stalk to see the mechanical back of Minion's body, and bowged sadly. A few of the other Brain Bots, the lone survivors of the horrendous explosion that had ripped the life of Megamind from them, hovered over to the familiar shape of the fish and nuzzled against his fur.<p>

"It's okay." Minion whispered back, though his voice was devoid of any true emotion or ways to tell how he felt. "We'll be gone soon."

He peeled the remaining pieces of partly melted, and torn, spandex from the lifeless blue body that was laying on the autopsy table before him. Megamind's lifeless eyes no longer stared without purpose, since Minion had done the right thing and shut his friends' eyelids for him. If you could ignore the horrible cave in of his head, and the blood and torn skin on his face you could almost force yourself to believe he was sleeping. Minion, however, could not. He finally removed the last piece of clothing from his friend and set it on the floor before having to physically grab the table to stop him from falling over entirely.

Another horrible racking sob left his tiny shuddering body and he shut his eyes tightly. How often in the last hour had he wished this was all a horrible, disgusting nightmare? The fish wasn't prone to them too often but sometimes he would have horrible dreams of waking up in a laboratory with scientists around him, and his friend nowhere to be seen. Those were sometimes the worst, since they felt so real. This, though, was reality.

"No, no... no, no..." he sobbed as he carefully lifted the alien's head in his hands before he cradled him all over again, the lifeless body like a toy in his massive hands. "Please. Please, please don't leave me alone, _please._" the fish begged despite knowing full too well it was too late to ask for such a thing. Some words just had to be said. "You can't leave me, w-we promised we'd always be together didn't we? You don't break promises with your best friend, you told me that...!" Minion's voice cracked and shook with emotions far stronger than he had ever felt before. "We could have had it all, Megamind," once he would never have called him by that title before. It wasn't allowed, he was an underling, wasn't he? It was only fair but now... now...

"Please Megmas. Please..."

The name only he knew, as well as Megamind. The name his parents had given him on his birth, a name that in their ancient language had meant knowledge. It had only been whispered between the two when Megamind was feeling especially down and miserable after a horrible day. Minion would come to him like this, offering comfort, and the assurance that 'one day, Megmas, everything will be good'. But nothing will ever be good again for the fish, not with the loss he was now carrying in his arms.

"_Once there was a way... to get back h-homeward,_" Minion quietly began to sing as he carefully lifted Megamind up off of the gurney. "_Once there was a way... t-to get back home... Sleep pretty darling, do not c-cry... and I will sing a lullaby._" the large mechanical body turned and he carried the body of Megamind, that was now not as blue as it once had been, through past the other gurneys which had body bags and the high wall that bodies were kept cool in. He had a purpose for breaking into the funeral home, for violently lashing out at the curator who had been here and had pointed accusingly at the dead body of Megamind and had said that horrible thing... he had paid for his insolence with his life. "_G-golden slumbers fill your eyes... smiles await you when you rise... sleep pretty darling do not c-cry... and I will sing a lullaby._"

He entered into another room and stared solemnly at the furnace, the large cremator machine. Minion's lower lip shook but he continued moving, and continued to sing, a way to keep him grounded in the moment as to what he was just about to do. But it had what Megamind had wanted, when he died. Despite their childish antics at times, the aliens had known they wouldn't live forever and Megamind had told Minion how if he died first, he wanted to be cremated. What became of his ashes afterwards, though, he would leave up to Minion to decide. Be it scattering them on the air, over the ocean, or kept in a shelf somewhere he didn't care. Minion had told Megamind the exact same thing, but had requested his ashes not be scattered but kept close to the alien. Then the two had moved on from such depressing matters and had gone on at length about the new material that Minion was using for a new outfit. "_Once there was a way... to get back h-homeward... once there was a way, to get back home..._" Minion sang on, voice shaking, as he laid Megamind on the slab that would be taken into the machine that would cremate him. "_Sleep pretty darling do not you cry... I'll sing a lullaby..._"

The fish read the instructions on the door and followed through with them all, setting the temperature, making sure the fire was lit, and finally pressed the large red button. Around him, the Brain Bots hovered, not truly understanding what was going on or why Minion was so sad but they had the strong inclination that it was something very serious and sad. Otherwise, why would Minion be so sad? Minion stood there and watched as the slab slowly moved towards the door that would shut on him soon, and fought with the strong desire to throw himself onto the blue body and be taken in with him. What right did he have for life without him? They had been inseparable ever since the aliens had been young, and facing life without him felt... scary. "_And in the end... t-the love you take, is equal to the love... y-you make._"

The doors slid shut and Minion found himself standing there outside of the large machine, and he could hear the muffled roar of the fires as they did their job. Minion gripped his large metallic hands desperately against each other, and his whole body quivered as the Brain Bots continued to watch, curious. There was the strong desire in the fish to turn and run, but he couldn't do that, not now. How could he desert his friend now? It would be impossible to do so, now. Somebody could find his remains and who knows what they would do with them. No, he had an obligation to fulfill. He had ashes to collect... and he had a song to finish.

"_Golden slumbers fill your eye, smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep little Megmas do not cry. I will sing a lullaby._"

He continued to listen to the flames, his hands hanging by his sides in clenched, angry fists and he shut his eyes.

"The city will burn." He whispered quietly in the darkness, illuminated only by the light in the previous room flickering on and off as its globe began to die. "The city will pay."

And the light bulb died.

_To be Continued_


	3. The First Blow

Metro Man hovered above the sprawling beautiful city he called home, and thought as hard as he could. Roxanne had finally stopped crying after almost a full hour and he had helped her into bed and wished her a good night, though the woman had been unresponsive. He would have liked to have stayed to watch over her for the entire night but he had business to attend to. In the distance, the building that had been Megamind's lair, was no longer smoking but you could tell by looking at it that something was wrong. The man wondered what he should do; should he alert the authorities to the death of the villain? Or should he remain mum over it?

If he told people Megamind was dead, they would jump to the conclusion that he had been the one to kill him and had finally emerged victorious and they would glorify his name even more so than they were now. For once... Metro Man did not want the fame or the glory that came with being the lone survivor of his people. Realizing this the man felt a stab of pain through his heart, because Megamind, too, had been the last of his people. Officially, now, Megamind's species was an extinct race and they would never look upon the stars again. All that was left of those dying worlds was him... and a fish who had sworn revenge.

He could have easily gone after him. How simple and quick to rip that glass dome off of the mechanical body and keep Minion from seeking vengeance but he couldn't have done that. The little fish had just as much right to mourn privately as anyone who had just lost their only family member. Metro Man almost felt a little jealous, at times, that Megamind had Minion whilst he had been left without anyone.

But now that Megamind was dead, would that mean celebrations? Would he be able to stop them, if they started? It wasn't a time for cheering and hugging in the streets, it was a time to be solemn and remember a man who had never given up, never surrendered and had stuck to his guns. "Might as well ask to bleed a stone." he muttered to himself because, as the saying went, no one mourns the wicked. Even if Megamind hadn't been as bad as everyone, even himself, made him out to be he was still the bad guy in this world. When and if he walked the street people would scream, women would faint, and babies would cry. When he walked (or floated) down the street people would gather around him en mass declaring their love and adoration. And now, there would be thanks thrown in there too. _Thank you for finally killing that evil Megamind. Thank you for putting him out of his misery. Thank you for killing the little boy in the time out corner._

If he didn't tell the people that Megamind was dead, the police would simply keep looking for him. It wasn't like Megamind had family that... oh. Yes. He had Minion as family. And those Brain Bots. But would they come forward to announce the death of the alien too? If they did, where would that leave Metro Man as well as Roxanne? Was it better to be honest and hope there wasn't a city wide holiday of celebration including a parade and floating balloons or keep quiet and let Minion mourn in peace without the sounds of celebrations at his friends death? It was a conflicting situation to find oneself in so he decided he would allow himself to think it over for the night, and go home so he could get some rest and try to dislodge all the questions running around his brain.

What would he do now? Megamind had been somebody in his life ever since he started school way back when they both attended classes in that little red school house. He could still remember the little boy sitting with his fish at his desk, avoided by everyone else. A painful memory of that game that could be called dodge ball but, then again, could not, flashed in his mind. The skinny blue boy standing in front of the red brick house, waiting, hopeful to be picked so he didn't have to be the one at the mercy of the other children. Metro Man, back then the little boy named Wayne, hadn't liked the look of him. He was blue. He was alien. He lived in a jail! That meant he was bad, and bad people had to be treated rightly. In turn, he never picked him, and he could still see in the back of his mind the young Megamind shielding himself from the barrage of playground balls.

Then he had become a villain, and their battles had quickly become elaborate. Wayne had chosen the name Metro Man, Defender of Metro City since it was a place that was very near and dear to his heart and he wanted to ensure anyone who heard his name knew what he stood for, and where he hailed from. In return, the blue alien had chosen the name of Megamind, Incredibly Handsome Criminal Genius and Master of all Villainy. Quite a mouthful and he remembered the first time he had found a calling card with that name on it. But now that voice was silent, the elaborate plots to either destroy the city or over throw Metro Man had come to an end, and he didn't know how to feel about it.

Of course there was other evil to battle in Metro City... every day criminals who held no regard for human life. The men who would point a gun in a clerk's face demanding cigarettes and money. Drug lords selling their wares on the side of the street to vulnerable and weak people who didn't have the strength to say no, or to defend themselves. Then there were the predators he wished didn't exist. They were the true criminals, and yet everyone in the city seemed to back the idea that Megamind was the worst thing in the world. Minion had been right... Megamind had never killed somebody. He'd never gone on a killing spree with one of his many diabolical weapons that looked nasty and deadly from every angle. Even when some of his attacks included infiltrating with power supplies and telephone companies, he never destroyed everything. Hospitals remained lit, as did the fire departments... phones could still dial 000 but nothing else...

And Roxanne... How many times had he come on to find her tired to chairs, devices locked around her, or various other attempts to intimidate the woman? Countless times. And yet he could only remember one instance in which she had been hurt, and Megamind had literally freaked out at the small amount of blood on the woman's arm. He had launched into a giant rant at Metro Man for not being quick enough or good enough, while Minion had sought out a band aid for the cut that was really nothing to talk about at all.

He had been playing the bad boy, but he wasn't bad bad... and Metro Man wondered why he had never truly seen that before today.

In the end, it was decided that it was best to let the city know about the passing of the villain Megamind. If not, there would have been continuous expenses in trying to find him and the police department could finally get rid of that specialized cell for him and put in cells regular prisoners could use. In one way that was a good reason to come forward with the news but, when Roxanne sat back in her chair and looked at the newspaper declaring 'Good Prevails! Megamind Dead!', she wondered if it had been a good enough reason. On the front page was a photograph of Megamind and Minion while riding around in their giant Spider Bot while a few Brain Bots hovering around them.

Inside were pages of opinions about the villains' death and an article highlighting the life and death of the alien. Some people were demanding to see a photographic of his body, or evidence to show he truly was dead. Somewhere on the net there were floating 'photos' of the autopsy but Roxanne knew that to be false, his body had been taken away by Minion and she didn't know what he had done with it. Maybe he had buried him somewhere quiet, secluded, somewhere that only the two of them knew about? Had there been a funeral? She had so many questions, but most of them sounded insensitive and cruel in her mind so she would never speak them.

She wasn't at all surprised to find she was crying again, especially when she looked at one photograph taken years ago. There she was in her black coat with the white buttons being pulled in to a one armed embrace by Metro Man who was smiling at her dazzlingly. In his other hand, was Megamind, being held up by the back of his collar and the look of utter defeat and humiliation was painful to look at. Every photograph of him seemed to be a mix of the two emotions, mixed in with physical pain. Only a few had him looking happy, and that was when he was in the midst of a heated battle, or banter, with Metro Man. Nothing else appeared to have made him happy at all...

"God." Roxanne threw the newspaper aside, disgusted at the news that there was going to be a grand celebration and of course Metro Man was going to be invited as well as herself. She had received he invitation, signed by the mayor, and had promptly thrown it into the trash bin. She didn't want to go to a party where the main reason behind it was to celebrate the death of the man who had loved her, it was too cruel. She'd have to make some excuse up, but right now she couldn't think of one. Being honest would blow peoples minds... and she wondered if Metro Man would make an appearance or not. By rights he should, he was the hero, but _could _he?

She move from her table to the balcony, and sighed as she felt a breeze push through her hair and smelt the familiar smell of the city beneath her. The car horns honked, sirens wailed, people talked... everything was as it would normally be... only Megamind was gone and Minion had gone missing and had remained missing for a few days now. she worried for the fish's well being. Had he committed suicide? Had he left Metro City for somewhere else to live, far away from the city that had caused him so much grief? Or was he plotting, planning, preparing for an attack that could make Megamind's own look like childs play? Roxanne couldn't see Minion as a cruel, evil fish... but life had a way of changing people. A harrowing loss like that he had experienced, the death of the one constant person in his entire life, could do horrible things to someone.

Turning around she glanced at the newspaper which had fallen open on another page, showing the remains of the lair. It had police tape around it, and Roxanne felt a shiver run through her since at the front of the building were... flowers? She reached for the paper and snatched it up and stared at the photograph with wide eyes, unable to comprehend it. People had left offerings for Megamind? Was this for real? There were even some signs written up and placed against the destroyed wall, too fuzzy to make out but the fact alone there were a group of people who were mourning the loss of the villain like she was... but what kind of people were they? Were they freaks who found delight in his failures? Were they alien fans? AC/DC and leather fetish people? Why would they connect like that, through a villain who had brought all this trouble to the city?

Roxanne smelled a story, and a means to remember the villain in a positive light rather than the negative.

Newspaper folded under her arm she grabbed her van keys, and left her apartment behind.

Repairs completed, Minion sat back in his chair and surveyed the blue prints hanging in front of him, suspended on ribbons and wires. The fish stood up and tugged one of the pieces of paper down and squinted at it, before snarling and ripped it to pieces and tossed the remains again. He stormed across the floor and ripped free a sheet of blue plan paper, picked up a white marker, and got to work on the blue paper. "No, no... no. The flame thrower doesn't go there what was I thinking... opportune placement means equal distribution..."

He turned in his bowl when he heard a bowg from the across the room and spotted some Brain Bots working a spike into a new piece of machinery. "Careful guys," he instructed, "don't go hurting yourselves."

The Brain Bots bowged back at him as the one of them wearing a protective half of an eye wear squinted at the task at hand as he continued to weld the spike into place. Minion had designed a new body for himself, and it had to be ready and set for use for when their new master would need it. The Brain Bots, soon having learned that Daddy would never be coming back, had moped around the second evil lair like sick puppies. Minion had left them to their sadness, since it was important for all of them to go through the emotional trauma of loss. It was only when they began flocking around him, needing guidance and orders, did he know they were ready to continue on with their former master's wishes.

Megamind's ashes, meanwhile, sat simply in a black urn settled on the table that Minion was working at. Minion had found the urn in the funeral home and had made quick use of it, but still he didn't know what to do with the remains. He didn't want to scatter them... he didn't want to be apart from the other just yet. Maybe one day, when his job was done and Metro City would be nothing more than rubble and flames.

"There, that... that looks better." Minion held up the blue prints before moving back to the idea wall, and quickly attached it to a piece of red string. "Much better." he complimented before he happened to glance at his watch, slash disguise generator. "Oh!" Minion gasped before rushing to the television and picked up the remote. Flicking the channels he found the news channel, and stood there in the dim light offered by the lone screen, and waited.

The woman with the pretty face and showy chest was reading off a teleprompter, something about a local television star landing a role in a new up and coming movie that would no doubt help launch their career... but then a hand came into view, offering her a piece of paper. The woman looked surprised and took it, and judging by the expression on her face she was being fed some information via an ear piece.

"I... I'm sorry but we interrupt this segment for a special news bulletin. There's been an explosion in downtown Metro City. Details are... are still sketchy but it looks as though a block of buildings have been involved in the explosions whose origins are still undetermined. The department of education appears to have been the target if, indeed, this is not the result of a terrible accident and not... not an act of terrorism." she read from the paper shakily, trying to string together information. "We'll... we're trying to get a reporter onto the scenes. Please remain tuned for further details and for those of you just tuning in, the department of education building in downtown Metro City has suffered great damage in result of an explosion..."

Minion watched her face carefully as his hands held the remote hotly in between them. His mechanical hands had been fixed, as had the rest of his body over the past few days, so now he was more or less back in one piece. That is, unless, you don't count his heart since didn't feel like one whole piece at all. But seeing her face, hearing that the explosion had happened just as he had anticipated, he felt a swell of pride unlike any he had felt before. It paled in comparison to how proud he used to feel when his boss would compliment him on another great suit, or piece of machinery he had put together. It was striking, it was liberating, and he loved it.

The fish began to chuckle to himself as the woman continued to read in formation off a teleprompter, and as he began to change the channel all of the stations seemed to be interrupting their regularly scheduled programs to bring information on the apparent attack downtown. All of them were confused, lost, and didn't know who to point the blame at. There had been no warning, no threat, just the explosion. By the time Minion flicked to the tenth channel his chuckle had become a full blown, somewhat hysterical, laugh that rang out throughout the almost empty lair that he and the Brain Bots called home.

He had made the first move, and nobody had the slightest idea that it had been him.

It was brilliant.

_To be continued_


	4. The Red Button

Watching carefully, he put every piece of effort into the task at hand. It was quite possibly the greatest thing he had never created in his entire life and he didn't plan on making any mistakes with it. This device, this machine, would revolutionize the world around him and would heighten every moment of the day from here on in. When it was something this important, this monumental, you didn't take things lightly.

Minion did a quick spin in his glass container, fins fanning excitedly as the last part of it was put into place. Grinning widely the fish looked up at his friend, and Megamind smiled down at him excitedly.

"All done. Ready?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Ready steady!" Minion answered back.

The fish was picked up in his glass orb before it was opened up by those blue hands. Tipping the bowl carefully, Minion slid from one glass container into another but this one was no ordinary round ball for him to get around in. This was the dome that was situated at the top of a machine, a device that Megamind had built from scratch for him. It had a torso, legs, arms, a filtering system on the back, extendable arms, and not to mention thick fur running along the arms and legs, sides... it truly was a piece of mechanical wonder made just for him.

"See if you can move the arm." Megamind urged. "Go on, try it!"

Minion looked at one of the arms, and nervously glanced at his boss. "All right..." he said slowly as he looked at the arm and thought about lifting it. At first, nothing happened; but then two sparks of electricity ran up the twin antennae attached to his back and the arm did as he instructed it. "Ahh! Oh, oh god! Oh wow!" the fish swam in a quick circle while Megamind cackled delightfully up at the ceiling as Minion attempted the same with his other arm. "Oh wow look at this, look at this I have arms!"

"Excellent!" Megamind all but squealed. "At last, my Minion has a body worthy of him! No more shall he be trapped in a dinky little round ball that can be so easily knocked aside by my numerous enemies!"

His evil laughing was cut short however, since Minion had suddenly thrown those two massive arms around him. Megamind squawked like a parrot at first, and flailed, since at first he obviously had no idea what the fish was doing. "Minion! What?" he asked frantically, green eyes wide.

"I just wanted to do that ever since forever, Sir." Minion mumbled as he was settled at the bottom of his new home, eyes shut as those arms held the other close. "Even, even if I can't feel with them I just want... want you to know that-"

"Minion."

"I know I shouldn't I know we're the bad guys but you're never bad to me and-"

"Minion."

"I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you and-"

"Minion."

Minion opened his eyes and stared into cold, unloving, dead eyes. Megamind was still in his arms, but he was no longer an excitable teenager feeling proud and accomplished for finishing the robot gorilla suit for his constant companion. He was a grown, leather wearing, goateed alien whose head was caved in. The fish gasped, and began to let go but two hands, with shattered and broken fingers, snapped up and grabbed at the glass dome.

"Why did you let me die Minion?" Megamind asked, voice coming in a hoarse, graveled whispering plead. "You were supposed to take care of me."

"I-I didn't, I tried Sir, I tried!" Minion pleaded.

"Why am I dead, Minion? Why did I have to die? Why did you let me die?" the alien sounded like a child now, wanting to understand why things were the way they were and asking the kind of question in which there was no true answer.

The fish began to breathe faster as his heart rate increased, and he shut his eyes tightly in an attempt to find an answer. Why did he die? Why had things gone so wrong? Why had Metro Man finally won? Why was the city celebrating the death of a man who wasn't a menace to anybody? Why was he all alone? Why hadn't things gone the way they always did? When he opened his eyes, Minion found that he was all alone and sitting within his tiny castle in which he slept in. Activating the 'wake up' mode, the castle slowly lifted up into the glass dome and Minion looked around him frantically. He was alone, standing in the middle of the empty floor of the base he now called home.

For one frantic second he began to move, hoping to find Megamind asleep somewhere, but he suddenly remembered. His eyes went to the mantle piece near by, and the black jar sitting atop of it, and he felt his stomach bottom out and his heart turn to lead in his tiny body. He wasn't sleeping. He was dead. He was dead and... it was all Metro Man's fault.

Minion went over to the jar and carefully lifted it down from the mantle and stared down at it sadly. Megamind was now nothing more then some ash and pieces of bone that the incinerator hadn't been able to destroy. His friend, his constant companion and his only family was once again being held in his hands but not in a way he had ever wanted to experience. The fish wished he could cry, so that he could vent his frustrations, but the simple act of letting tears fall was not something fish were allowed to do. Instead he let out a frustrated noise and set the jar back down, less he drop it.

Striding across the floor he picked up one of the darts that he had salvaged from their old lair. Glancing up at the wall opposite him, he took in the sight of a map of Metro City. It had been drawn from memory since, even though he was a fish; Minion had a great eye for details, maps and schematics. No way was his memory as powerful as his late friends, but the things he could remember, for a fish, were amazing. Lifting up the dart he stared at the map, shut his eyes, spun around twice and threw the dart. He heard a healthy 'thunk' as it found a target, and he opened his eyes.

"Huh." he said quietly as he approached the map, looking at where the dart had found its place. "Hah. He hah. Ha ha ha..." Minion chuckled to himself as he reached up and tapped the name where the dart had landed. "All right then. If that's what destiny wants, that's what destiny gets..." Minion said as he turned and began to make his way across the floor once again but found his feet coming to a slow, uncertain stop. He had just happened to glance across at a pile of debris that the Brain Bots had been collecting from their old base. It seemed as though the cyborgs had taken a habit of sneaking out there at night, finding something to salvage, and bringing it back home.

Minion made his way towards the pile, knelt down before it, and felt a sad smile cross his face as he saw the mannequin doll had survived the explosions. How many times had he used it to rest material on, to see how what worked best with other materials? He reached out and picked up the white, partly burnt, thing and touched it with his large hands. Setting it aside he began to find all manner of pieces of what could be considered junk to some, but was treasures to him. Some spikes from an unfinished costume design, scraps of leather and metal... and something else that he recognized, vaguely.

Reaching out he picked up the spherical device, painted silver and blue, with a protective cap over a big red button. "A box with a button." Minion said as he traced his finger over the cap, peering at the glowing, welcoming button. What had it been for? Why couldn't he remember? It wasn't the amnesia bomb, he knew that much... Minion then turned it over, and his eyes widened when he saw the name etched onto the bottom in Megamind's writing. "Unspeakable Evil: Mega-Mega Bot." he read aloud before he remembered.

Megamind had poured everything he was into this device. His personality, loves, hates, habits… his everything. But it was to go into a giant robot, built to continue attacking the hero, Metro Man, until he was dead. Minion knew such a reckless idea was fruitless now, Metro Man had no such weaknesses. He could laser beam off all the limbs and destroy the robot, and Megamind would be dead again. "No." Minion said through his gritted teeth as he held the button close to his metallic chest. "Not again. Not ever again." he whispered.

Roxanne stood outside the remains of the destroyed lair, the early morning wind whipping around her. Shivering, the woman hugged her black coat closer around her, before looking at the gifts people had left behind outside the taped off area. Naturally, the lair was now unsafe for anyone to go into since the building may collapse in on itself at any moment, so people could only go so far. She saw all manner of gifts, too.

There were a few blue stuffed animals left out in the elements, dogs, cats, and somebody had even gone to the trouble of making a plush Brain Bot. It was lovingly hand made and was slumped against a vase of yellow flowers. It also appeared some children had been saddened by the passing of the villain too since there were drawings taped to the fence depicting Megamind in crude, childish forms.

Even Minion had been drawn into a few.

"Rest in peace." she read aloud as she looked over some of the signs. "Deserved Better. As much a part of Metro City as Metro Man. Will be Missed. Down with Metro Murderer." the last one gave her some cause for concern, but she could see where the view point had come from. She looked up to see one policeman standing guard, just in case somebody tried anything funny. The guard was old, though, with thinning white hair.

"Didn't think I'd see you out here, Miss. Ritchi." the guard said.

"Neither did I." she admitted as she looked over the offerings. "There's so many of them. I never... would have thought."

"I don't think nobody did." replied the man with a shake of his head. "I knew him, yannow?" he asked.

"Knew him?" Roxanne asked.

"Back in my younger days I was a guard at the prison for gifted criminals." the guard continued as he looked down at some of the offerings, namely the flowers. "He was just a kid then. Little guy with a big head, skinny as a stick and always carting his fish around with him."

Roxanne felt her heart freeze a moment. "What was he like?" she asked.

"Not like he turned out to be." he said.

"What's your name?" Roxanne asked, since it was important to know.

"Right, sorry. Jordan. Jordan Stewart." Jordan introduced himself with the tip of his hat.

"...are you related to my camera man?"

"Hah! No, at least I don't think so."

That would have been weird if he was. "So... you knew him?" she asked.

"I did. Well, as much as a guard can know a little kid growing up in jail. He kept out of trouble, kept his nose clean, tended to draw a lot. Kept to himself, him and Minion."

"So he had no friends?" Roxanne asked quietly.

"Well he had a few uncles who watched out for him, made sure none of the rougher customers got too close to him. But most of them who were there when he arrived had been let out already, 'n the kid didn't take well to those days at all. He started to rely more on Minion than before. Figure he felt the only one he could rely on was the fish." Jordan explained. "I had already moved onto a new position when the paint bomb incident happened. But I had a buddy still there who told me he became a totally different person after that, the guy everyone knows today. Like, what happened there helped mould him into Megamind."

Roxanne paused, taking all of this in carefully. Everyone had been a child at some stage, and Megamind was no different. How difficult had it been, growing up in a prison surrounded by brutish men? All he had to get him through the day was his fish... and she knew for a fact after the paint incident he had been pulled out of school entirely, and left in the prison until he began his bi-weekly break outs. Just to show up the cops, to show he could do it. To be a show off and to run true the image that he was the 'bad boy'.

"...what was his name, before he became Megamind?" she asked quietly.

"Fellers called him Boy Blue. Dunno if that's what was on his birth certificate though. That was up to the Warden." Jordan shrugged.

Roxanne made a mental note to approach the Warden, and was just about to ask something else when the guard's APB began to speak.

"Alert, alert. All available units in the area. The Mawson Police Station has been attacked. Repeat. Mawson Police Station has been attacked. Police officers down. All available units report immediately. Medical back up desired."

The two looked surprised, and Jordan covered the device with his hand. "Mawson. That isn't too far from here..." he mused.

The woman's beeper began to go off too, and she knew why before she even picked it up to check. It was telling her to go to the Mawson Police Station, Hal would be waiting for her, and a story was breaking.

"I could give you a lift?" Jordan asked. "I noticed you came via taxi." he commented, when the woman looked a little curious.

"Oh, sure. Yes. Please I'd appreciate that."

Police cars were on fire, and already there were white sheets covering bodies on the floor. Fire fighters were there by the time Roxanne arrived, and the men were aiming the huge fire hose at the building that was being ripped apart by flames. Jordan had hurried off in one direction, and Roxanne stood by the car, staring with wide eyes. It was almost like the attack on the Education Building, only this one seemed more... violent. Glass was shattered everywhere from the bomb blast radius, blood splattered on the pavement, and the bodies just made her feel sick.

"Roxy!"

Hal rushed over to her, carrying his camera on his shoulder. "Oh good you made it."

"What happened here?" Roxanne asked with a quiet voice.

"They're still figuring that out. The security cameras got toasted when the blast went off so we gotta rely on the cameras across the way." Hal explained, gesturing to some stores across the street. "From what I hear there weren't any cars or vehicles driving past."

"So they think it was planted, just like the Education one?" she guessed, taking her microphone from him.

"Figure so. But... c'mon. This is a cop station. How can anyone sneak into here? With a bomb? And NOT get caught?" Hal asked. "It's crazy."

"Crazy's a good word for it."

There was a sudden rousing cheer as Metro Man suddenly appeared. Roxanne watched the grim expression on the man's face before he sucked up the blazing fire and smoke from the building. Besides her, Hal groaned, but she didn't hear it. The fire men went into the building as Metro Man began to fix the structural damage with his strength, ensuring nothing would collapse in on the men. The man happened to glance over and spot Roxanne, and the two shared an awkward moment of eye contact. Neither wanted to be here, that much was obvious, and they were both thinking that this and the previous bomb attack was related.

Who could be behind it, though? Was it the people who had sympathy for Megamind? The Education department hadn't helped Megamind and as a gifted child in his youth, he should have been a priority. The police, locking up and imprisoning a baby for a deed done out of compassion and innocence rather than hated and malice... it could easily explain the choices behind the attacks but why this police station? Why not the prison where Megamind was raised?

There were too many questions and no answers. Instead of trying to think of them, and nothing else, Roxanne settled down to do her job and report live from the scene to her television station about the evens unfolding around her and pray to God that this was the last one for a while.

But these past few days, Roxanne had learned what good wishing could get you.

To be continued


End file.
